Sepp Blatters resignation as Fifa president is a very good day for football said English FA chairman Greg Dyke on Tuesday (2 June).
Following Blatters unexpected resignation, Dyke, who has been an outspoken critic of the Swiss, said he was delighted with the decision.
It is a very good day for football. We needed change at Fifa and this is the change we wanted, so we are a bit smug and delighted, said Dyke, who openly supported Blatters opponent in the recent Fifa presidential elections, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.
Blatter announced earlier on Tuesday that he was quitting as Fifa chief, just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term.
Dyke had said in the wake of the 79-year-olds re-election that the Swiss would not see out his term of office. Dyke also questioned the timing of Blatter decision.
Well, the question is why didnt [Blatter resign] before the vote last week? And clearly something has happened between Friday... When I left the [Fifa] congress on Friday night and was interviewed by ITN, I told them that look, this isnt the end of it, and this guy will never do four years. But even I didnt believe he would be out by Tuesday, he said.
Dyke, the former head of the BBC, said that Blatters replacement would have his work cut out after a corruption investigation plunged Fifa into the worst crisis in its history.
Fifa needs massive reform. First of all it needs financial reform and financial accountability, which it has never had. It needs someone to go in there and find out how much is going in there, and how much is going out, and where it is being spent, in great detail.
Once you have done that, you need to sort out the whole governance of the sport, which is all over the place – it is ridiculous. Then you have got a chance.
People say to me, well Blatter is going to stay on a few months but it is irrelevant. Once you have said you are going, as anyone will tell you once you have been at a big organisation, when you are going, you are gone.
I think we should all put pressure on Fifa to make fundamental change. I dont think Blatter can make those changes, and I dont think he even knows how to, but more than that I dont think he has the appetite. So, someone is going to have to make those changes, so you need a leader who is going to go in there and sort it out. First of all you need to sort out the money.
Swiss authorities also mounted their own criminal probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
Years of allegations of corruption in the vote that won Qatar the 2022 cup, and claims of abuse of migrant workers, mean the country has struggled to convince world opinion of the justness of its position as host nation.
Dyke says that if the Swiss investigation uncovers corruption that led to the award of either World Cup, particularly Qatar, then they should have the competition taken away from them.
The change itself doesnt mean anything for those two World Cups. But the Swiss investigation, I think, does. If they come up with evidence that either of them, and particularly Qatar World Cup, was awarded to Qatar because of undue influence, or bribes, then we should scrap it and start again, he said.
Dyke also said he thought the Emir of Qatar, the man who drove their 2022 World Cup bid, would not be sleeping easy following Blatters resignation.
Well, you have to ask yourself why did the executive [committee] of Fifa decide to put the World Cup, which is supposed to be in August, in Qatar, which is vastly too hot, against the advice of their own safety committee? And the answer is? I will leave it to you to make your own conclusion. I think if I was the Qatari team who won I would be very worried, said Dyke.
